Method and apparatus for administering a reward program

ABSTRACT

The method and apparatus for administering a reward program includes a central controller that stores a series of registrations, each of which corresponds to a purchaser of a product. The central controller calculates a measurement of product success, such as the number of products sold or the market share of the product, and determines if the measurement is within a predetermined range. The central controller may determine if the number of products sold exceeds a predetermined threshold, and a set of registrations are selected as “early-adopter” registrations that thereby define a set of early-adopter purchasers. The central controller may select a set of registrations having ordinal positions within a predetermined range of positions, so that early-adopter purchasers are defined. If the measurement of product success is within the predetermined range, a reward, such as a refund or a free product, may be provided to each early-adopter purchaser.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/441,978, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 08/961,964, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,049,778, which are assigned tothe assignee of the present invention and are incorporated by referencein their entirety herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to systems for administering rewardprograms.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many businesses experience pressures to rapidly bring newly-introducedgoods and services (“new products”) to market. With heightened domesticand global competition, companies that do not obtain market sharequickly lose out to those companies that do. Consequently, the lifecycles (period from product introduction to discontinuation) of manyproducts are relatively brief, and many businesses strive to recoverproduct development costs in just a few years.

It is particularly important to develop market share rapidly upon theintroduction of a new product. Otherwise, the product may fail to evergain consumer acceptance. Unfortunately, consumers are often slow topurchase new products, especially those containing new technology. It isparticularly difficult, for example, to sell new computer, electronicand other “high-tech” products. This slow adoption causes some newproducts to suffer from a “chicken-and-egg” problem, in which low salesof a product decrease the chance that the product will ever gainconsumer acceptance. Poor demand for digital video disk (DVD) players,for example, has decreased the ability and motivation of businesses toprovide DVDs. The low availability of DVDs in turn discouraged consumersfrom buying DVD players. It has thus become difficult for either thedisks or the players to overcome consumer reluctance and gain marketshare.

In many cases, widespread sales and acceptance of products is essentialto the effective use and enjoyment of the product. Consequently, manyconsumers refrain from purchasing products until it has been shown thata significant number of other consumers have purchased those products.For example, early in the life cycle of facsimile (“fax”) machines,there were few fax machines with which to communicate. Accordingly,their usefulness was limited, and the fax machine did not become highlyuseful or desirable until a significant number of consumers had likewisepurchased a fax machine.

In addition to the above-described difficulties in marketing newproducts, such new products are often expensive, particularly incomparison to established product technologies. Many consumers are thusreluctant to purchase new products because the product price maydecrease significantly with market acceptance. Such initially highprices are typically necessary for manufacturers to recover productdevelopment costs. In addition, prices typically decrease upon reachinggreater production volumes, which yield economies of scale.Consequently, it is not uncommon for the price paid during theintroduction of a product to be two to five times greater than the pricepaid thereafter. For example, a typical cellular telephone costapproximately $10,000 when first introduced in the early 1980's. Afterfifteen years, the cost of a typical cellular telephone has decreased toapproximately $100 to $200. Many consumers thus prefer to wait forproduct prices to decrease, and consequently new products often sufferfrom poor sales. In sum, businesses are often driven by opposingpressures: the need to sell at low prices to stimulate new productsales, and the need to sell at high prices to recover productdevelopment costs in a short amount of time.

To stimulate sales, particularly sales of new products, many businessesoffer various promotions as an incentive to purchase the products. Forexample, a business may offer the product at a substantial discount, orthe product may be accompanied by a gift. Unfortunately, such promotionsincur costs, even if they are unsuccessful in increasing sales.Accordingly, businesses are often reluctant to invest significantresources in high-value promotions, since such investment may incurcosts but yield little or no benefit.

One system for attempting to quickly grow market share of products isknown in the art as a multi-level marketing (“MLM”) scheme. In MLM, asalesperson establishes himself at a higher level in a “pyramid” thansalespeople to whom he sells. Typically, a salesperson acquiressalespeople below him by “recruiting” or otherwise convincing others tosell the product. The salesperson is paid commissions for sales that areconsummated by lower-level salespeople. Sales people at the highestlevels are paid the highest commissions, since they have many levelsbelow them generating sales and hence commissions. Salespeople at thelowest levels are paid the lowest commissions, if any. Due to the tieredcommission structure, MLM schemes have the inherent disadvantage ofinflating product costs. Furthermore, multi-level marketing requireseach person in the pyramid to be a salesperson, which is annoying tomany people and thus discourages most people from participating in MLMschemes. In other words, each person in an MLM pyramid cannot bepassive, but must invest a significant amount of time and energy inbeing an active salesperson. Accordingly, typical purchasers are neitherwilling nor capable of participating in MLM schemes.

It would be advantageous to provide a method and apparatus thatfacilitates the introduction and sale of new products. Such a method andapparatus would ideally overcome the drawbacks of known systems forpromoting the sale of new products.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method andapparatus for administering a reward program.

In accordance with the present invention, a central controller stores aseries of registrations, each of which corresponds to a purchaser of aproduct. The central controller calculates a measurement of productsuccess, such as the number of products sold. The central controllerevaluates product success by determining whether the measurement iswithin a predetermined range. For example, the central controller maydetermine whether the number of products sold exceeds a predeterminedthreshold, or whether the price of the product has decreased to apredetermined amount.

Upon attaining a predetermined level of product success, a selected setof “early-adopter” purchasers (purchasers who buy a product early in theproduct's life cycle) are rewarded. Thus, consumers are provided with anincentive to (i) buy a product earlier than they otherwise might have;or (ii) buy a product they might not have otherwise bought. A set ofregistrations which are early-adopter registrations are selected,thereby defining a set of early-adopter purchasers. In selectingearly-adopter registrations, the central controller may select a set ofregistrations having ordinal positions within a predetermined range ofpositions, such as the first hundred registrations. Alternatively, thecentral controller may select a set of registrations having dates beforea predetermined date, such as all registrations for products purchasedwithin the first month of a product's introduction.

If the measurement of product success is within the predetermined range,a reward is provided to each early-adopter purchaser. A number ofdifferent types of rewards may be provided, such as a refund or a freeproduct. For example, each early-adopter purchaser may be refunded hispurchase price if sales of the product exceed 1,000,000 units, or eachearly-adopter purchaser could receive a $20 dividend with every1,000,000 units sold.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an apparatus for administering areward program in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a central controller of theapparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a registration database of thecentral controller of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a record of a product successdatabase of the central controller of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of a record of an early adopterdatabase of the central controller of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of a record of a reward database ofthe central controller of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of exemplary records of the recordsof FIGS. 4, 5 and 6.

FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration of an account database of the centralcontroller of FIG. 2.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for administering a rewardprogram.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are a flowchart illustrating another embodiment of themethod of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration of a package database of the centralcontroller of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention allows a manufacturer, distributor or other sellerto reward purchasers (e.g., individuals, families, or companies) of aproduct if and when the product attains a predetermined measure of“success”. In particular, early-adopter purchasers (purchasers who buy aproduct early in the product's life cycle) are rewarded, therebyproviding consumers with an incentive to (i) buy a product earlier thanthey otherwise might have; or (ii) buy a product they might not haveotherwise bought. Accordingly, the present invention can enable sellersto sell products earlier, and even increase sales of products.

In accordance with the present invention, early-adopter purchasers arerewarded only after the product has attained a predetermined measure of“success.” The reward reduces or eliminates consumer reluctance topurchase the product, since any perceived risk is mitigated by thereward. By contrast, conventional product promotions, which offerrewards regardless of product success, incur the costs of the rewardseven if the product is not successful. Accordingly, the presentinvention is particularly beneficial in the sale of new products, suchas new electronic devices, car models, software, magazine subscriptions,airline routes, books, video tapes, lottery games, telephone plans,leasing systems, prescription drugs and products sold by new stores orcompanies.

The methods and apparatus of the present invention can permit a sellerto recover the investment costs of new products earlier in the productlife cycle. In addition, the seller may make profits more quickly thanif early-adopter purchasers were not identified and rewarded. Profitsaccruing from a product as well as market share should increase as totalsales of the product increase, thereby funding the rewards provided toearly-adopter purchasers.

Similarly, purchasers may be able to recover the typically large cost ofpurchasing a new product by receiving rewards for early purchases of theproduct. Certain purchasers may even recover more than the purchaseprice of the product. Such rewards provide the purchasers withincentives to buy the product early in the life cycle of the product.Furthermore, purchasers that view the purchased product favorably haveeven more incentive to tell others, and thereby promote the product.Early-adopter purchasers thus may function as both salespeople andinvestors in the company selling the product, yet those purchasers neednot actually exert the effort in selling the product themselves, such asparticipants in MLM.

The description that follows is arranged into the following sections:Registering Products, Measuring Product Success, Rewarding Early-AdopterPurchasers and Exemplary Embodiments.

Registering Products

Purchasers of a product may be identified by corresponding registrationsfor the product. A registration is an entry which specifies registrationinformation, such as one or more of (i) the product purchased; (ii) aserial number or other unit identifier for specifying the particularunit of the product which was purchased; (iii) the name of thepurchaser; (iv) the address of the purchaser; (v) the location where theproduct was purchased; (vi) the price paid for the product; and (vii)the date of purchase.

Referring to FIG. 1, an apparatus 10 for administering a reward programincludes a central controller 12 in communication with data inputdevices 14 and 16. Each of the data input devices 14 and 16 collectsregistration information directly or indirectly from purchasers (notshown), and transmits the registration information to the centralcontroller 12. The registration information transmitted to the centralcontroller 12 may be encrypted for security. The central controller 12in turn generates and stores corresponding registrations based on theregistration information. The purchasers thereby become “registeredpurchasers” of the product. The central controller 12 may be operated byseveral types of entities, such as a product manufacturer, a creditissuer, a credit card clearinghouse or a third party that administersreward programs for various manufacturers.

The data input devices 14 and 16 are computers, network terminals orother devices for transmitting the registration information to thecentral controller. Although two data input devices are shown in FIG. 1,any number of data input devices may be in communication with thecentral controller 12. Registration information may be collected viadata input devices 14 and 16 in a number of ways. For example, manyproducts are accompanied by a registration card, upon which thepurchaser prints the required registration information. The registrationcard is then submitted, and may also be accompanied by a receipt orother proof of purchase of the product. Typically, a data entry operatorreceives and reads the submitted card, and types the registrationinformation into one of the data input devices 14 and 16, which may be acomputer connected to the central controller 12 via a communicationnetwork. In another embodiment, the purchaser may speak with an operatorusing a telephone, and the operator types the registration informationinto one of the data input devices 14 and 16. Alternatively, one of thedata input devices 14 and 16 is a telephone connected to avoice-response unit (VRU). A purchaser may enter appropriateregistration information via the VRU by pressing telephone buttons inresponse to VRU prompts.

In summary, there exist many ways in which registration information maybe submitted to the central controller 12. Registration information maybe collected at the time of purchase, and subsequently submitted fromthe point of purchase. For example, a purchaser may buy a television atan appliance store. An appliance store employee collects registrationinformation from the purchaser, and in turn enters the registrationinformation via one of the data input devices 14 and 16, which may be acomputer in the appliance store. The computer transmits the registrationinformation to the central controller 12. Alternatively, the purchasermay enter registration information via one of the data input devices 14and 16, which may be a kiosk located in the store. The kiosk in turntransmits the registration information to the central controller 12. Insuch embodiments, a store identifier specifying the location of thepurchase may also be included as registration information that istransmitted to the central controller 12.

In another embodiment, one of the data input devices 14 and 16 is apoint-of-sale (“POS”) terminal, such as a cash register with a creditcard reader. After recording a purchase, the card reader transmits apurchase price, product code and credit card account number to thecentral controller 12, which is operated by the credit card issuer or acredit card clearinghouse.

In still another embodiment, at least one of the data input devices 14and 16 is a personal computer on a communication network, such as theInternet. The personal computer (i) initiates an order from a purchaser,(ii) collects registration information along with the order, and (iii)submits the order and registration information to the central controller12. Ideally, the purchaser would not have to submit additionalinformation with the order, but instead the registration informationwould be completely available from or determined by the order. Forexample, an order may include registration information, such as theproduct, the purchaser's name and delivery address. Additionalregistration information, such as a serial number of the unit bought,the price paid for the unit, and the date of purchase, could beautomatically determined by the central controller 12, even though itmay not be explicitly specified in the order submitted by the purchaser.For example, the serial number of the unit bought and price paid couldbe determined by the central controller 12 from inventory information,and the date of purchase could be determined with reference to a timersignal. Many other methods for collecting and organizing registrationinformation will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Referring to FIG. 2, the central controller 12 comprises a processor 20,such as one or more conventional microprocessors, which is connected toa data storage device 22, such as a RAM, floppy disk, hard disk orcombination thereof. The processor 20 is in communication with each ofthe data input devices 14 and 16. The processor 20 and the storagedevice 22 may each be (i) located entirely within a single computer orother computing device; (ii) connected to each other by a remotecommunication link, such as a serial port cable, telephone line or radiofrequency transceiver; or (iii) a combination thereof. For example, thecentral controller 12 may comprise one or more computers which areconnected to a remote server computer for maintaining databases.

The storage device 22 stores (i) a program 24 for controlling theprocessor 20; (ii) a registration database 26; (iii) a product successdatabase 27; (iv) a reward database 28; and (v) an early adopterdatabase 30. The program 24 drives the processor 20 to operate inaccordance with the present invention, and particularly in accordancewith the methods described in detail herein. The program 24 alsoincludes program elements that may be necessary, such as “devicedrivers” for interfacing with computer peripheral devices. Appropriatedevice drivers and other necessary program elements are known to thoseskilled in the art, and need not be described in detail herein. Each ofthe databases 26, 27, 28 and 30 is described in detail below anddepicted with exemplary entries in the accompanying figures. As will beunderstood by those skilled in the art, the schematic illustrations andaccompanying descriptions of the databases presented herein areexemplary arrangements for stored representations of information. Anumber of other arrangements may be employed besides the tables shown.Similarly, the illustrated entries represent exemplary information, butthose skilled in the art will understand that the number and content ofthe entries can be different from those illustrated herein.

Referring to FIG. 3, the registration database 26 stores entries 40, 42,44 and 46 which each define a registration. Each of the entries 40, 42,44 and 46 includes registration information, such as (i) a productidentifier 48 for specifying the product that was purchased; (ii) a unitidentifier 50 for specifying a particular unit of the product that waspurchased; (iii) a name 52 of a purchaser; (iv) an address 54 of thepurchaser; (v) a store identifier 56 for specifying a store, if any,where the product was purchased; (vi) a purchase price 58 of theproduct; and (vii) a purchase date 59 of the product.

As described above, registration information typically includes a unitidentifier. The unit identifier specifies the particular unit of theproduct that was purchased, and thus may be a unique unit code, such asa serial number. Alternatively, the unit identifier may be a uniquetransaction code generated upon each sale of the product, and printed ona receipt upon completion of the sale.

Unit identifiers should ideally be chosen to prevent fraud. Unscrupulousindividuals may attempt to become registered purchasers without havingpurchased the product. For example, an individual may create copies ofregistration cards and submit those cards in an attempt to gain thebenefit of several registrations. If a number of submitted cards includethe same unit identifier, the fraud is easily detected since each unitidentifier must be unique. However, if each submitted card containsdifferent but valid unit identifiers, fraud may be more difficult todetect. Accordingly, if valid unit identifiers may be easily ascertainedfrom other unit identifiers, unscrupulous individuals may attempt tosubmit registration information containing those valid identifiers,though they have not purchased the units corresponding to thoseidentifiers. For example, if all numbers in a range from 10,000 to11,000 are valid unit identifiers, then a purchased unit having a unitidentifier “10,000” permits an individual to guess that the unitidentifier “10,001” is valid as well. Such an individual could possiblysubmit two registration cards, even if he has not purchased two units ofthe product.

It is thus desirable that valid unit identifiers are not, for example,sequential numbers. Instead, unit identifiers may be randomly generatednumbers or alphanumeric characters. In addition, unit identifiers may becombinations of two or more identifiers. For example, unit identifiersmay be combinations of (i) serial numbers; (ii) credit card numbers;(iii) unique transaction codes; and/or (iv) store identifiers specifyinga location of a purchase. Such combinations make it more difficult tofraudulently become a registered purchaser. Further, unit identifiersmay be encrypted such that information (e.g., serial number or storeidentifier) may be determined therefrom, but such information could notbe easily modified without resulting in an invalid unit identifier. Suchencryption also impedes attempts to ascertain valid unit identifiersfrom other unit identifiers. Many encryption techniques are well known,and described in “Applied Cryptography, Protocols, Algorithms, andSource Code in C”, by Bruce Schneier.

Unscrupulous individuals may attempt to remain registered purchaserseven after returning a purchased product. However, if each unit isuniquely identified and a corresponding registration may be determinedfrom a returned unit, the central controller 12 (FIG. 1) can delete theassociated registration after the unit is returned. For example, if thereturned unit has a serial number, a registration that includes theserial number may be identified and deleted. Alternatively, each unit ofthe product may have a “scratch-off” coating or label that reveals aunit identifier when scratched. Each unit is thus uniquely identified bythe label's unit identifier. When a unit of a product is being returned,the label is examined to determine if the unit identifier is revealed.If the unit identifier were unrevealed, it would be known that thereexists no corresponding registration for the unit. In anotherembodiment, unique transaction codes may be printed on receipts. Eachtransaction code may thereby serve as the unit identifier, and may becompared with registrations when a product is returned with the receipt.

In known systems for registering products, not all purchasers submittheir corresponding registration information. However, since in thepresent invention early-adopter purchasers are identified and rewardedonly after submitting registration information, the present inventionwould typically increase the number of purchasers that submit suchregistration information. Registration information is particularlyvaluable, and can permit companies to track sales and to targetpromotions and advertising more effectively.

Measuring Product Success

The central controller 12 (FIG. 1), which stores registrations,calculates a measurement of product success, and provides a reward toeach early-adopter purchaser if the measurement is within apredetermined range. Typically, the measurement of product success isthe quantity of sales, and a reward is provided if the number of salesexceeds a predetermined number. However, in other embodiments themeasurement of product success may be, for example, product marketshare, product price, product revenue or product profit. For example,the measurement of product success may be the product price, and areward is provided if the product price has fallen below a predeterminedprice. Further, the measurement of product success may be calculated inabsolute terms (e.g., profit made during the fiscal year) or relatively(e.g., 10,000 more units sold than a competitor sold).

Referring to FIG. 4, a record 60 of the product success database 27(FIG. 2) defines product success parameters for a product identified bya product identifier 62. The product success database 27 (FIG. 2)typically includes a plurality of records such as the record 60, eachdefining product success parameters for a different product. The record60 includes entries 64, 66 and 68 which each specify (i) a quantity ofsales 70; and (ii) a reward identifier 72 indicating a reward schedule,described in detail below. Each of the entries 64, 66 and 68 therebyspecifies rewards to be provided upon attaining the correspondingquantity of sales. It will be understood by those skilled in the artthat any number of entries may be used.

It may be desirable to divide product success into “tiers”, in whicheach tier corresponds to different ranges of the measurement of productsuccess. For example, 100,000 sales may indicate the lower threshold ofa first tier of product success, 1,000,000 sales may indicate the lowerthreshold of a second tier of product success, and 2,000,000 or moresales may indicate a third tier of product success. Accordingly, eachpredetermined range corresponds to a tier, and thus each tiercorresponds to an entry of the record 60. If the measurement of productsuccess falls within one of the predetermined ranges (the quantity ofsales 70), a reward (specified by the reward identifier 72) is providedto each early-adopter purchaser. As described below, the reward providedfor each tier may be the same (e.g., ten dollars for every 100,000sales) or may be different (e.g., ten dollars upon reaching 100,000sales, and fifty dollars upon reaching 1,000,000 sales).

Rewarding Early-Adopter Purchasers

Generally, an early-adopter purchaser is a purchaser who buys a productearly in the life cycle of the product. Whether a purchaser isconsidered an early-adopter purchaser may be determined from thecorresponding registration of that purchaser. A set of registrationswhich are early-adopter registrations are selected, thereby defining aset of early-adopter purchasers.

In one embodiment, the registrations are arranged in a series, and eachregistration of the series has an ordinal position. Thus, eachregistration defines a number of prior registrations and a number ofsuccessive registrations. The ordinal position of each registrationindicates the order in which corresponding registration information wasreceived, or alternatively the order in which the corresponding productwas purchased. For example, the registration information of the firstreceived registration card is used in generating the first registrationin a series of registrations. Early-adopter registrations may be definedas a set of registrations having ordinal positions within apredetermined range of positions. For example, all registrations fromthe first registration to the one-thousandth registration may beconsidered early-adopter registrations.

In another embodiment, each registration has a corresponding dateindicating the date on which corresponding registration information wasreceived, or the purchase date on which the product was purchased.Early-adopter registrations may be defined as a set of registrationshaving dates before a predetermined date. For example, all registrationshaving dates before Jan. 4, 1999 may be considered early-adopterregistrations. Alternatively, early-adopter registrations may be definedas a set of registrations having dates within a predetermined range ofdates, such as all registrations having dates between Jan. 1, 1999 andJan. 31, 1999. It may be advantageous to have a range of dates thatstarts after the introduction of a product, instead of at theintroduction of the product. For example, a manufacturer may desire towait for the product production to reach a certain level.

In still other embodiments, the set of early-adopter registrations maybe defined as a random selection of registrations, or alternatively arandom selection of registrations that meet certain criteria. Forexample, of all registrations having dates before Jan. 4, 1999, half arerandomly selected to be considered early-adopter registrations. Asanother example, of all registrations from the first registration to theone-thousandth registration, one hundred are randomly selected to beconsidered early-adopter registrations.

Referring to FIG. 5, a record 80 of the early adopter database 30 (FIG.2) defines criteria for determining whether a registration is anearly-adopter registration, and consequently, whether a purchaser is anearly-adopter purchaser. The record 80 is for a product identified by aproduct identifier 82. The early adopter database 30 (FIG. 2) typicallyincludes a plurality of records such as the record 80, each definingcriteria for determining whether a registration for a product is anearly-adopter registration. The record 80 includes entries 84, 86 and 88which each specify (i) a registration ordinal position 90; and (ii) anearly adopter identifier 92. Each of the entries 84, 86 and 88 includescriteria to determine whether a registration is an early-adopterregistration, based on the ordinal position of the registration. It willbe understood by those skilled in the art that various other criteriamay be used instead of the ordinal positions of registrations. Forexample, as described above, the date of the purchase may be used todetermine whether a registration is an early-adopter registration.

Further, early-adopter registrations may be divided into groups. Forexample, if the first one thousand registrations received are defined tobe early-adopter registrations, a first group may be defined as thefirst one hundred registrations received, and a second group may be thenine hundred subsequently-received registrations. The entry 84 defines afirst group (the first 100 registrations) having an early adopteridentifier “A”, while the entry 86 defines a second group (the next 900registrations) having an early adopter identifier “B”. The entry 88specifies no early adopter identifier, and therefore indicates thatregistrations having ordinal positions greater than 1000 are notconsidered early adopter registrations. It will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that any number of entries may be used, and thus,that any number of groups of early-adopter registrations may beestablished. Further, there may be one or more records, and thus one ormore products, for which every registration is defined to be anearly-adopter registration. Thus, there may be one or more products forwhich every purchaser is provided with a reward.

Early-adopter registrations may also be divided into groups based onother criteria, such as the geographic areas of the correspondingpurchasers. For example, each group may correspond to early-adopterpurchasers in a state or metropolitan area.

The separation of early adopter registrations into groups is especiallyadvantageous in providing a different reward to each group ofearly-adopter purchasers. For example, the first one hundred purchasersof a product may receive a larger reward than the next nine hundredpurchasers. Determining and providing rewards are described in detailbelow.

It may also be desirable to inform purchasers whether they areearly-adopter purchasers. A purchaser may be thus informed after hiscorresponding registration is generated. For example, if the purchasersubmits an order for a product via the Internet, he may receive amessage “You are registration number 963” and/or “You are anearly-adopter, and will receive a reward after 1,000,000 units aresold”. It may also be desirable to inform a purchaser as to the totalnumber of sales. For example, at periodic intervals, registeredpurchasers may receive an electronic-mail message, such as the message“As of today, there are 12,073 sales.” If early-adopter registrationsare divided into groups, the purchaser may be informed of the group towhich he belongs. For example, he may receive a message “You are one ofthe first 100 purchasers”.

Referring to FIG. 6, a record 100 of the reward database 28 (FIG. 2)defines rewards to provide early-adopter purchasers, based on productsuccess. The record 100 corresponds to a product identified by a productidentifier 102. The reward database 28 (FIG. 2) typically includes aplurality of records such as the record 100, each defining rewards toprovide early-adopter purchasers of a different product. The record 100includes entries 104, 106, 108, 110, 112 and 114 which each specify (i)a reward identifier 116 corresponding to the reward identifier 72 (FIG.4) of the product success database 27 (FIG. 2); (ii) an early adopteridentifier 118 corresponding to the early adopter identifier 92 (FIG. 5)of the early adopter database 30 (FIG. 2); and (iii) a reward 120. Eachof the entries 104, 106, 108, 110, 112 and 114 defines a reward toprovide to a particular group of early-adopter purchasers for aparticular reward schedule defined by the reward identifier. Forexample, the entries 104 and 106 indicate that the reward identifier“R1” defines that $10 is to be provided to early-adopter purchasers ofgroup “A” and $5 is to be provided to early-adopter purchasers of group“B”.

Referring to FIG. 7, an exemplary quantity of sales 130 determines areward provided to an early-adopter purchaser of the product identifiedby product identifier “1111”. As shown in FIG. 7, the exemplary quantityof sales is 1,500,000 sales. Thus, according to the entry 66 of therecord 60, the reward schedule specified by the reward identifier “R2”is to be effective.

The ordinal position 132 of an exemplary registration (not shown) underconsideration is shown to be “88”. Thus, according to the entry 84 ofthe record 80, the purchaser corresponding to the exemplary registrationis an early-adopter purchaser, and corresponds to a group “A” ofearly-adopter purchasers. Turning to the entry 108 of the record 100,the reward identifier “R2” and the early adopter identifier “A” togetherindicate that the purchaser corresponding to the exemplary registrationis provided a free ticket, such as a ticket to a sporting event.

A number of different types of rewards are within the scope and spiritof the present invention. For example, rewards may be money, such as afixed amount or a discount on another product, and may further be anamount of money based on the purchase price. Such an amount may be arefund of the purchase price or a portion thereof, or an amount of moneybased on the difference between the corresponding purchase price and acurrent product price. The reward may be an additional unit of theproduct, another product altogether, or a gift certificate for aproduct. The reward may also be an access code for permitting access toa network. For example, a code provided to early-adopter purchasers maypermit access to a site on the World Wide Web where free software may beobtained. In addition, the reward may be an increased prize on a winninglottery entry, or an increased chance of winning with a lottery entry.The reward may also be a warranty for a product or an extension thereof.

In addition, the reward to a purchaser may comprise the establishmentand/or adjusting of an account balance. Each reward provided to thepurchaser increases the account balance. The account balance may beredeemed (“cashed out”) for funds or products having a correspondingvalue.

Referring to FIG. 8, an account database 140 stores entries 142, 144,146 and 148 which each define an account for a registered purchaser. Theaccount database 140 is typically stored in the storage device 22 (FIG.2) of the central controller (FIG. 2). Each of the entries 142, 144, 146and 148 specifies (i) an account identifier 150 for uniquely specifyingeach account; (ii) an account balance 152; (iii) a name 154 of thepurchaser; and (iv) an address 156 of the purchaser.

Many methods of increasing the account balances may be used. In oneembodiment, each successive amount added to the balance increases uponreaching each successive tier of product success. Thus, successiverewards increase the balance by successively larger amounts. Forexample, an opening account balance may increase from $0 to $10, then to$25 and then to $50 upon reaching three respective tiers of productsuccess. Thus, it is more valuable for the purchaser to wait beforecashing out the account. Accordingly, the manufacturer, credit cardaccount issuer or other party which pays purchasers when accounts arecashed out benefits by not paying until relatively high product successis achieved.

The purchaser may determine when his corresponding account balance iscashed out, and initiate such cashing out, for example, via an Internetsite or a voice response unit (VRU) over a telephone. In addition, thecentral controller may determine when purchasers are cashed out, andtypically makes such determinations based on predetermined criteria. Forexample, if each tier of product success doubles the account balance ofeach early-adopter purchaser, the central controller may cash outaccount balances before the balances grow too large.

When account balances are cashed out, the purchasers may be providedwith the corresponding payments using one or more methods by whichrewards may be provided. For example, rewards may be (i) credited to acredit card account or other financial account; (ii) mailed toearly-adopter purchasers, typically in the form of a check or product;or (iii) sent to stores or other predetermined locations until picked upby the early-adopter purchasers, who are notified thereof.

Referring now to FIG. 9, a method 200 for administering a reward programis performed by the central controller 12 (FIG. 1). The centralcontroller 12 receives registration information (step 202) and generatesin dependence thereon corresponding registrations (step 204). Eachregistration is stored (step 206). The central controller calculates ameasurement of product success (step 208), typically at periodicintervals. If the measurement of product success is within apredetermined range (step 210), then early adopters are selected (step212) and provided with rewards (step 214). It will be understood bythose skilled in the art that the above-described method illustratesone, but not necessarily the only, sequence of steps. For example, insome embodiments the step 212 of selecting early adopters may beperformed as registrations are generated.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrates a method 250 that is another embodiment ofthe method 200 of FIG. 9 and like steps are indicated by like figurenumerals. The method 250 further includes steps for providing rewards togroups of early-adopter purchasers upon attaining a number of tiers ofproduct success. The central controller 12 (FIG. 1) determines if themeasurement of product success is within a first range (step 220) orwithin a second range (step 222). If the measurement is within the firstrange, then a first reward schedule is set (step 224). If themeasurement is within the second range, then a second reward schedule isset (step 226). Such ranges and corresponding reward schedules aredetermined from the entries of the product success database 27 (FIG. 2).The central controller 12 (FIG. 1) selects a first group and a secondgroup of early-adopter purchasers (steps 228 and 230 respectively). Eachof the first and second groups of early-adopter purchasers are in turnprovided with a reward in accordance with the set reward schedule (steps232 and 234 respectively).

In the embodiments of the present invention described above, rewards areprovided to selected purchasers of a product. In further embodiments,the reward, if any, depends on whether the purchaser has become aregistered purchaser of two or more products (a “package” of products).For example, there may be two products that are deemed “related”, suchas a television and a videocassette recorder (VCR). A consumer whobecomes a registered purchaser of both products may be provided with anincreased reward when one or both products attain a predetermined levelof product success. For example, registered purchasers of the televisionmay receive a reward of $10, and registered purchasers of the VCR mayreceive a reward of $10 upon respective product success, but registeredpurchasers of both the television and the VCR may receive a reward of$30. Thus, a customer is provided with an additional incentive ($10 morethan the sum of the two individual rewards) to become registeredpurchasers of both related products instead of one. Similarly, aconsumer who purchases a predetermined number of units of a product maybecome an early-adopter purchaser of that product. For example, becominga registered purchaser of multiple units of a VCR may entitle apurchaser to an increased reward when the VCR attains a predeterminedlevel of product success.

Such an embodiment is particularly useful in promoting products of alike nature, such as a set of electronic devices or a set of softwareproducts. It is also highly beneficial to consumers that purchase manyproducts from a package. For example, one package might comprise tendifferent software products, and purchasers are provided with increasedrewards if they become registered purchasers of three or more productsin the package. Such increased rewards might be (i) an additional amountof money; (ii) doubling the reward provided in association with eachpurchased product, or (iii) providing a discount on any other product inthe package.

In further embodiments, a purchaser may only become an early-adopterpurchaser if he has become a registered purchaser for two or moreproducts in a package. For example, if a purchaser buys a television, hemay not be considered an early adopter until he has also bought andregistered a VCR, at which point he is an early-adopter purchaser ofboth the television and VCR. In other words, in the instant embodimentthere must be two or more registrations for products from a package inorder for either registration to be considered early-adopterregistrations. Thus, purchasers are provided with an incentive to buymore than a single product, and purchasers thereby become eligible toreceive rewards as early-adopter purchasers.

Referring to FIG. 11, a package database 300 stores entries 302, 304 and306, each defining a package of products. The package database 300 istypically stored in the storage device 22 (FIG. 2) of the centralcontroller (FIG. 2). Each of the entries 302, 304 and 306 specifies (i)a package identifier 308 for uniquely identifying each package; (ii)product identifiers 310 which specify products included in the package;(iii) one or more package conditions 312, such as the number of productsin the package which a purchaser must register in order to be eligiblefor the increased reward; and (iv) an increased reward 314. For example,the entry 304 illustrates that if a purchaser becomes a registeredpurchaser for any three of the products identified by “2000”, “1809”,“3254” and “1744”, then the rewards he receives upon product success aredoubled.

Exemplary Embodiments

The following are several examples which illustrate various applicationsof the present invention. These examples do not constitute a definitionof all possible embodiments, and those skilled in the art willunderstand that the present invention is applicable to many otherembodiments. Further, although the following examples are brieflydescribed for clarity, those skilled in the art will understand how tomake any changes, if necessary, to the above-described apparatus andmethods to accommodate these and other embodiments and applications.

Ticket Example

Purchasers pay for tickets, such as tickets for a particular sportingevent or airline flight. Purchasers may pay for the tickets with acredit card account or by other means. If all tickets (e.g., for theevent or flight) are sold, each purchaser receives a rebate off of theticket purchase price. Those purchasers that paid with a credit cardaccount are automatically credited a predetermined portion of the ticketpurchase price, while the remaining purchasers are mailed rebate checks.

Electronics Example

The first 20,000 purchasers who submit registration cards for a newdigital recorder are considered early-adopter purchasers. When 1,000,000digital recorders are sold, the early-adopter purchasers are mailedchecks for the difference between the purchase price and the currentprice of the digital recorder.

Computer Example

Purchasers who buy a particular computer within the first month afterits release are provided an access code once the computer is installedat 1,000 locations. The access code permits the purchasers to access asite on the World Wide Web where they may download free softwareupgrades for the computer.

Software Example:

The first 100 purchasers of a graphic design program from a new(“startup”) company are provided with registration codes and a telephonenumber. When a purchaser calls the telephone number, he is prompted toprovide the corresponding registration code. Providing the coderegisters the purchaser, who receives a rebate check for the purchaseprice each time 25,000 additional copies of the graphic design programare sold.

Camera Example

Purchasers who pay for a particular digital camera with a certain typeof credit card (e.g. an American Express credit card) are consideredearly-adopter purchasers. Once 500,000 digital cameras are sold, each ofthe early-adopter purchasers is provided with twenty free rolls of film.

Internet Example

The first 10,000 purchasers that buy airline tickets through an Internetsite are considered early-adopter purchasers. If over 1,000,000 ticketsare sold through the site, each of the early-adopter purchasers receiveshis next airline ticket free of charge through that site.

Magazine Example

A publisher of a new magazine provides each subscriber that subscribeswithin the first month with a free two-year subscription renewal oncethe magazine is sold to 60,000 subscribers.

Lottery Ticket Example

Purchasers that buy a lottery ticket when the top jackpot is less than$1,000,000 are considered early-adopter purchasers. If the jackpotexceeds $10,000,000 when lottery winners are selected, early-adopterpurchasers with winning lottery tickets receive twice the prize(“payout”) that they would have normally.

Competitor Sales Example

Every purchaser of a first video game from Company X receives a secondvideo game for free if sales of Company X are greater than sales ofCompany Y during the Christmas season.

New Store Example

The first one thousand customers of a new outlet store who spend over$200 receive a $100 gift certificate once sales of that outlet reach$1,000,000.

New Credit Card Example

The first five hundred customers that are approved for a newly-offeredcredit card receive a portion of the aggregate monthly balance of allholders of that credit card.

Although the present invention has been described with respect to apreferred embodiment thereof, those skilled in the art will understandthat various substitutions may be made to those embodiments describedherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. For example, a great number of types of rewards and methodsof delivering those rewards will be apparent to those skilled in theart.

1. A method, comprising: calculating, by a reward program centralcontroller comprising at least one processor, a measurement ofperformance of a first product; comparing, by the reward program centralcontroller, the measurement with a predetermined value in order toevaluate success of the first product; selecting a registration from aseries of registrations, wherein the selected registration is anearly-adopter registration and corresponds to an early-adopterpurchaser; and providing a reward to the early-adopter purchaser basedon the evaluation of the success of the first product, wherein thereward includes a second product for which a measurement of performanceof the second product is calculated.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereincalculating a measurement of product performance comprises calculating aquantity of product sales.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein themeasurement of product performance is selected from the group consistingof product market share, purchase price, product revenue and productprofit.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the registration of the seriesof registrations has a corresponding date.
 5. The method of claim 4, inwhich selecting from the series of registrations comprises selecting theregistration having dates before a predetermined date.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, in which comparing comprises comparing the measurement with afirst predetermined value, and comparing the measurement with a secondpredetermined value.
 7. The method of claim 6, in which providing areward comprises one of: providing a first reward to the early-adopterpurchaser of a first group based on the comparison of the measurementwith the first predetermined value, and providing a second reward to theearly-adopter purchaser of a second group based on the comparison of themeasurement with the second predetermined value.
 8. The method of claim1, wherein the first product is transportation to a destination and thesecond product is a consumer product related to the destination.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the registration includes a correspondingpurchase price, and in which providing a reward to the early-adopterpurchaser comprises, for the registration, providing to theearly-adopter purchaser an amount of money based on the correspondingpurchase price.
 10. The method of claim 9, in which providing a rewardto the early-adopter purchaser comprises, for the registration,providing to the corresponding early-adopter purchaser an amount ofmoney based on the difference between the corresponding purchase priceand a current purchase price.
 11. A non-transitory computer readablemedium storing instructions configured to direct a central controller toperform a method, the method comprising: calculating, by a rewardprogram central controller comprising at least one processor, ameasurement of performance of a first product; comparing, by the centralcontroller, the measurement with a predetermined value in order toevaluate success of the first product; selecting a registration from aseries of registrations, wherein the selected registration is anearly-adopter registration and corresponds to an early-adopterpurchaser; and providing a reward to the early-adopter purchaser basedon the evaluation of the success of the product, wherein the rewardincludes a second product for which a measurement of performance of thesecond product is calculated.
 12. The computer readable medium of claim11, wherein calculating a measurement of product performance comprisescalculating a quantity of product sales.
 13. The computer readablemedium of claim 11, wherein the measurement of product performance isselected from the group consisting of product market share, purchaseprice, product revenue and product profit.
 14. The computer readablemedium of claim 11, wherein the registration of the series ofregistrations has a corresponding date.
 15. The computer readable mediumof claim 14, in which selecting from the series of registrationscomprises selecting the registration having dates before a predetermineddate.
 16. The computer readable medium of claim 11, in which comparingcomprises comparing the measurement with a first predetermined value,and comparing the measurement with a second predetermined value.
 17. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 16, in which providing a rewardcomprises one of: providing a first reward to the early-adopterpurchaser of a first group based on the comparison of the measurementwith the first predetermined value, and providing a second reward to theearly-adopter purchaser of a second group based on the comparison of themeasurement with the second predetermined value.
 18. The computerreadable medium of claim 11, wherein the first product is transportationto a destination and the second product is a consumer product related tothe destination.
 19. The computer readable medium of claim 11, whereinthe registration includes a corresponding purchase price, and in whichproviding a reward to the early-adopter purchaser comprises, for theregistration, providing to the early-adopter purchaser an amount ofmoney based on the corresponding purchase price.
 20. The computerreadable medium of claim 19, in which providing a reward to theearly-adopter purchaser comprises, for the registration, providing tothe corresponding early-adopter purchaser an amount of money based onthe difference between the corresponding purchase price and a currentpurchase price.